By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1660
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the minimum amount of student instruction required to
be provided by school districts and calculation of average daily
attendance for public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.081, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection
(a-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as authorized under Subsection (b) of this
section, Section 25.084, or Section 29.0821, for each school year
each school district must operate so that the district provides for
at least, at the choice of the district:
(1) 75,600 minutes of instruction, including
intermissions and recesses, for students; or
(2) 180 days of instruction for students.
(a-1) In accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner,
each school district shall notify the commissioner whether the
district will comply with Subsection (a) on the basis of minutes of
instruction or days of instruction.
(b) The commissioner may approve the instruction of
students for fewer than the number of minutes or days required under
Subsection (a) if disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel
curtailment, or another calamity causes the closing of schools.
(c) If the commissioner does not approve reduced
instruction time under Subsection (b), a school district may add
additional minutes to the end of the district's normal school hours
or additional days to the district's normal school calendar as
necessary to compensate for minutes or days of instruction lost due
to school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather
conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.
(e) For purposes of this code, a reference to a day of
instruction means a calendar day in which a student is scheduled for
and receives at least the minimum number of instructional minutes
required for the student to be considered full-time for the purpose
of calculating average daily attendance under Section 42.005 [420
minutes of instruction].
SECTION 2. Section 25.082(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school day shall be at least seven hours each day,
including intermissions and recesses, except as otherwise provided
for a school or program described by Section 42.005(j).
SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (g-1),
and (i) through (o) to read as follows:
(a) In this chapter, average daily attendance is:
(1) the quotient of the sum of attendance for each day
of the minimum number of days of instruction or the minimum number
of minutes of instruction, including intermissions and recesses, as
described under Section 25.081(a) divided by the minimum number of
days of instruction or the minimum number of minutes of
instruction, including intermissions and recesses;
(2) for a district that operates under a flexible year
program under Section 29.0821, the quotient of the sum of
attendance for each actual day of instruction as permitted by
Section 29.0821(b)(1) divided by the number of actual days of
instruction as permitted by Section 29.0821(b)(1); or
(3) for a district that operates under a flexible
school day program under Section 29.0822, the average daily
attendance as calculated by the commissioner in accordance with
Sections 29.0822(d) and (d-1).
(a-1) If a district or charter school provides more than 180
days or 75,600 minutes of instruction to students, the commissioner
may adjust the determination of average daily attendance under
Subsection (a) to reflect the increased instructional time.
(a-2) A district or charter school is eligible to earn full
average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the school or
district provides at least 240 minutes of instructional time to
students each day.
(g-1) The commissioner shall adopt rules to calculate
average daily attendance for students participating in a blended
learning program in which classroom instruction is supplemented
with applied workforce learning opportunities, including
participation of students in internships, externships, and
apprenticeships.
(i) A district or a charter school operating under
Subchapter B, D, or E, Chapter 12, that operates a prekindergarten
program is eligible to receive one-half of average daily attendance
under Subsection (a) if the district's or charter school's
prekindergarten program provides at least 32,400 minutes of
instructional time to students.
(j) A district or charter school is eligible to earn full
average daily attendance under Subsection (a) if the district or
school provides at least 43,200 minutes of instructional time to
students enrolled in:
(1) a dropout recovery school or program operating
under Section 12.1141(c) or Section 39.0548;
(2) an alternative education program operating under
Section 37.008 or 37.011;
(3) a school program located at a day treatment
facility, residential treatment facility, psychiatric hospital, or
medical hospital;
(4) a school program offered at a correctional
facility; or
(5) a charter school operating under Subchapter B, D,
or E, Chapter 12.
(k) A charter school operating under a charter granted under
Subchapter B, D, or E, Chapter 12, before September 1, 2015, is
eligible to earn full average daily attendance under Subsection
(a), as that subsection existed immediately before September 1,
2015, for:
(1) all campuses of the charter school operating
before September 1, 2015; and
(2) any campus or site expansion approved on or after
September 1, 2015.
(l) A district or charter school may operate two programs
and be eligible for full average daily attendance for both
programs, if the programs operated by the district or charter
school satisfy all applicable state and federal requirements.
(m) In accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner,
each charter school operating under Subchapter B, D, or E, Chapter
12, shall notify the commissioner whether the charter school will
provide instruction to students on the basis of minutes of
instruction or days of instruction, as provided by Section
25.081(a).
(n) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section, including rules that:
(1) establish the minimum number of minutes of
instructional time per day that results in 180 days of instruction
or 75,600 minutes of instruction for students, as applicable;
(2) establish any requirements necessary to allow a
district or charter school to be eligible for one-half of average
daily attendance under Subsection (a), which may differ based on
the instructional program offered by the district or charter
school; and
(3) proportionally reduce the amount of funding a
district or open-enrollment charter school receives under this
chapter, Chapter 41, or Chapter 46 and the average daily attendance
for the district or charter school if the district or
open-enrollment charter school operates on a calendar that provides
fewer than the required minimum days or minutes of instruction to
students.
(o) In this section, "instructional time" means the time
allocated by a district or charter school toward instructing
students in the required curriculum described by Section 28.002 and
includes time allocated for recess, intermissions, and serving
breakfast and lunch to students.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018
school year.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.